Ottawa,  Stephen Harper has been one of the toughest-talking leaders throughout the Ukraine crisis, yet newly released figures show National Defence is expected to face an even deeper budget hole in the coming year than previously anticipated. The ongoing reductions come as the prime minister is expected to resist pressure from allies at thisRead More

Toronto,  Prime Minister Stephen Harper has a chance to prove that he is not “all hat and no cattle” at the NATO leaders’ summit in Wales this week. No other leader in the 28-country trans-Atlantic alliance has condemned Vladimir Putin’s military adventure in Ukraine more harshly and more persistently than Harper has. However, paradoxically,Read More

Wellington/New Zealand, A man suspected of killing two unemployment-office workers and seriously wounding a third in a South Island town was charged Tuesday with murder. John Tully was arrested Monday evening following a seven-hour manhunt that kept a town on edge. Tully made his first court appearance Tuesday on twoRead More

Koreia, Three American citizens detained in North Korea have appealed to the US government for help returning home, speaking in rare interviews with US media that were set up by the North Korean government and may signal an attempt by Pyongyang to reopen a long-stalled dialogue. The three men, one servingRead More

Beijing,  A knifeman stabbed three children to death and wounded five more plus a teacher in a rampage Monday at a Chinese primary school that refused to enrol his daughter, reports said. The attacker killed himself by jumping from a building following the carnage at a school in Shiyan in the centralRead More

Islamabad, Pakistan’s powerful army chief on Monday met embattled Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to discus the deepening political crisis that has put the country on edge, as hundreds of protesters stormed the heavily-guarded Secretariat and the state broadcaster’s office. Fresh clashes erupted on Monday morning between police and protesters whoRead More

Jerusalem,  Israel laid claim on Sunday to nearly 1,000 acres of West Bank land in a Jewish settlement bloc near Bethlehem — a step that could herald significant Israeli construction in the area — defying Palestinian demands for a halt in settlement expansion. Peace Now, an Israeli group that opposesRead More

Islamabad, Pakistan’s powerful Army Chief on Monday met Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to discuss the deepening political crisis that has put the country on edge, as hundreds of protesters stormed the heavily-guarded Secretariat and the state broadcaster’s office. Fresh clashes erupted this morning between police and protesters who forcibly enteredRead More

Moscow,  Russian President Vladimir Putin urged the EU on Monday to show “common sense” and not to engage in mutually destructive sanctions, in his first reaction to the threat of additional punitive measures over Ukraine. “I hope that common sense will prevail, … that we will work together normally andRead More

London – Prime Minister David Cameron was to outline tougher measures against jihadist suspects today after Britain raised its security risk assessment to a level where an attack is thought “highly likely”. Cameron was to give a statement to the House of Commons after 3:30 pm (20:00 IST) on fresh steps againstRead More